What people are saying about Sen. John McCain

The Arizona Republic, editorial: “Let the record show that John Sidney McCain never quit on his country. When he nearly died in a fire that killed 134 of his shipmates on an aircraft carrier in the Tonkin Gulf, he went on to fly combat missions. When he nearly died ejecting out of a plane over North Vietnam, he steeled himself for nearly six heroic years of captivity as an American POW. When he nearly died from torture in a Hanoi prison, he came home and began a career of service in Congress. And as he neared death with cancer and its punishing treatment regimen, he railed against a brutal Syrian regime and the excesses of a populist president. The man had no quit. ... McCain was our senior senator, but we shared him with the world. Just about every important conference on defense and foreign affairs eagerly sought McCain’s participation. ... There was a moment after McCain had returned home from Washington for what looked like the last time, when journalists began preparing for his imminent resignation. But some who knew him best realized that was foolish. McCain would never resign. If you sat down with him to talk issues, it wouldn’t take long before the conversation drifted to sports. And it is there you find the metaphor that best describes McCain: ‘He left it all on the field.’ Which is to say, he never quit on us.”

Carla Herreria, HuffPost: “It was one of McCain’s finest political moments. At a rally for his presidential bid late in 2008 campaign, an audience member ... tells him she doesn’t trust his opponent, then-Sen. Barack Obama. ... Even as McCain’s responses to the barbs directed at Obama during the Minnesota rally 10 years ago garner renewed praise, some noted that he could have made a broader point. When the woman refers to Obama as an Arab and McCain says, 'No ... he’s a decent family man, citizen,' without mentioning that Arabic-speaking people can also be decent citizens."

Jay Nordlinger, National Review: "I did a podcast with Sen. McCain in April 2015. ... At the time of our interview, McCain was 78. Had he expected to live — and to have a long life — when he was in those North Vietnamese prison cells and torture chambers? 'Obviously, I didn’t know, but we all hoped.' ... McCain further said, 'I do not know anyone alive — I’ve never heard of anyone — who is as lucky as I am. I crashed airplanes. I was a terrible disciplinary problem at the Naval Academy. I managed to avoid being killed in a fire on the Forrestal. I was shot down. I had the honor of winning the nomination for the presidency of the United States. The honor of serving in the United States Senate. And now following in the footsteps of one Barry Goldwater as chairman of the Armed Services Committee. I am exuberant and so fortunate. I’m telling you, I wake up every morning and go to bed every night saying, "Thank you, God." John McCain was a great American. ... An American and a man attuned to the world. A tough old cuss, with a great heart. I loved him and I hope that we will see his like again. And again."

Harry J. Kazianis, Fox News: “In 2015, when I interviewed him for Real Clear Defense on national security issues, he was adamant that the Obama administration was completely underestimating the threat posed by Russia. As my team was setting up our equipment to record, I chatted with the senator about Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and I asked him if he thought Russia was a declining power — just using what little power it had left to grab what it could. ... Before I could even finish my sentence, he stopped me, and his face got beet red — and I knew I was in trouble. 'You’re wrong Harry, I am sorry, but you are dead wrong. Russia is a threat because it is declining, because Putin’s economy is a train wreck,' McCain told me. 'When the bear feels wounded, she is dangerous. And if we don’t stand tall against Russia now, they will keep pushing, and this will only get worse. We aren’t learning from history, and I fear where this ends up. Putin’s not done.' ... And look how right McCain was. Today, Russia is clearly one of America’s top geopolitical enemies. ... One can only wonder if we had listened to McCain a little more, or if he had been elected president when he ran against Obama in 2008, how different the world would be.”

William Kristol, The Weekly Standard: "From his years as a prisoner of war to his years in elected office, McCain understood the price and the value of liberty. Now, at a time when the case for an elevated patriotism that cherishes liberty needs urgently to be made anew, the deeds and speeches of John McCain provide a needed education in liberty for a free people."

Arizona Daily Star, editorial: "Sen. McCain was a man with whom we often disagreed on matters of policy and politics. We never, however, doubted that he was propelled by his own sense of public service; it was clear in everything he did. ... He was pugnacious. He was self-possessed. And he was funny. He had his chestnuts — saying he slept like a baby after his 2008 election loss: Cry a little, sleep a little, cry some more — but he’d crack wise, in the moment, during interviews. And, just as quickly, he’d heatedly challenge a member of the Star’s editorial board to a debate. A person like John McCain, we dare say, wouldn’t want to be remembered in gauzy terms that smoothed over any rough edges — McCain owned his rough edges. Looking back over a life marked by five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, by time in the U.S. House, more than five terms in the Senate and two presidential runs, it is impossible to sum up the man. So we say thank you, Sen. McCain, for your fortitude and for your dedication to our country and to our state."